Gooseberry Patch The Christmas Table Review and Giveaway

I am so excited to be once again working with Gooseberry Patch to review The Christmas Table. I could not wait to get this in the mail and dive in. Picking out just a couple to try for this review was really hard. I wanted to make each one of them. Not only do I enjoy all the great recipes but all the great little tidbits sprinkled through out the pages with tips and decorating ideas. I like that this is a cookbook compiled of all home cooks with tried and true recipes from cooks just like me.

The first recipe that jumped out at me was the Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies. Growing up our neighbor made the best sugar cookies on the planet. She would bring us over a plate of these cookies every year. I always looked forward to them. They were simple but they were the best I have ever had, even to this day. She has been gone for many years now and I still think about her cookies and long for that little bite of heaven. I would love to get my hands on her recipe, although I am not sure if they would be as good as hers. When I saw these I hoped so much that these would be just like hers. These were very similar, I think they were just missing that little extra love that she put in them. Until I find that recipe, these will be my go to recipe. A must try this holiday season!

I knew when I saw this one that it would be a hit with my family. I mean come on, Cinnamon Roll Cake, who doesn't love a good cinnamon roll? This was super simple to put together and the flavor was spot on. I have made cinnamon rolls before and I can say they are a lot of work. Quick and easy, which is what we all need during the holidays. So if you are looking for a simple, yet tempting dessert this holiday season, give this one a try. You will not be disappointed!

Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies

1/3 Cup butter, softened

1/3 Cup shortening

1 Cup all-purpose flour

3/4 Cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 Tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add remaining ingredients; mix well. Cover and chill dough for 3 hours. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a 1/8 inch thickness; cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Arrange on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 7 minutes, or until golden. Makes 2 dozen.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

1 box yellow cake mix

1 Cup brown sugar, packed

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

2 Cups powdered sugar

1/4 Cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Prepare cake mix according to package directions, spread half the batter in a greased 13 x 9 baking pan. In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle evenly over batter. Top with remaining batter. Run a knife through the layers to create swirls. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. In a bowl, combine powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla, adding more milk if needed to reach desired consistency. Spread over warm cake. Cut into squares to serve. Serves 10

Thank you Gooseberry Patch for the wonderful opportunity to work with you again on The Christmas Table. What a pleasure it is to work with you! Please do stop by Gooseberry Patch and tell them I sent you! Want a copy of The Christmas Table, check out the online store for all the cookbooks available and you may find one you have been looking for.

Now on to the good stuff....Gooseberry Patch sent me an extra copy just for one of you! That's right....you can win a copy of The Christmas Table!

Giveaway is now closed...thank you for entering!

Giveaway details... Make sure you leave a seperate comment for each entry, so each one counts. Please leave your email address so I can contact you if you win!

1. Mandatory...Post a comment telling us what your favorite family memory is or traditions you have for Christmas. (I really enjoy reading all the comments)

Looking for a special gift for that someone who has absolutely everything. Check out my Christmas Shop, this is my way of helping our financial struggles for our family as we face our 5th lay off for my husband in three years. Check back often as I will be adding items. Thanks for looking!

140 comments:

My favorite Christmas memory is making Raindeer food with my kids. We all mix the oats and some glitter to baggies and give them to my nieces and on christmas eve. we sprinkle it on the lawn to guide in the raindeer ;) doesnt matter how old the kids get we still do it and it feels magical.

One of the funniest Christmas' was when my mom didn't label gifts and my brother and I kidded around as to who the "big" gift was for. Turned out me but the funny thing was they had given us identical gifts, just put mine in a larger box

I have six younger siblings. When we would come home from Midnight or late Christmas Eve mass we would then make a fresh batch of warm cookies for Santa before we went to bed. This is something that as we have married and have our own families we have done with them and then when we get together.

Favorite Christmas Memory has to be when my sister(you) and I sneaked down stairs early Christmas morning and shook all the gifts under the tree and we knocked on on the floor and it was so loud(it was a toolbox) our grandmother (nanny)coughed who was sleeping the the room next to us! We ran so fast upstairs, ah, the memories! Also remember all the different candy jars and nuts dad would put around the house!

When we were little my four sisters and I would put together a lip syncing show set to Christmas music for our mom and dad...we would perform on Christmas Eve. Used a brush as a mic...it was great fun and great memories...ciao4now64 at yahoo dot com.

My favourite Christmas memory is going to midnight mass and coming home to feast on our Christmas dinner and open presents in the middle of the night. There is just something so magical about midnight mass and then coming home to find that Santa had passed while we were away. It's a part of my heritage that I love to share with my kids as well :-)

My favorite Christmas memory is on Christmas Eve Mom would tuck us all in bed and read us the Christmas Story. We would get so excited we couldn't fall asleep and thought we could hear the reindeer on the roof and was so afraid that Santa would leave cause we where not sleeping. So we would close our eyes so tight we would dose right off to sleep. Then we would wake up hearing bells jingling and Daddy would run up the stairs and tell us all excited that Santa had come to hurry up but we couldn't go down the steps until everyone including my Grandmother was ready...we would line up and then down the stairs we would go and the fun began...we would finish all of our presents then get all dressed up and go visit our families (and boy do we have a lot of families we visited). We visited different family members as well as friends everyday from Christmas right thru New Years! Then on New Years Day we had our family reunion at our house and boy did we have the food...football game was on and kids playing! Our house would be packed but oh the fun we had and the memories will never fade!

My favorite Christmas memories are of my mom baking and making candy. She fixed up pretty plates and sent me out to deliver them to her friends and neighbors. On Monday we each took a bag of plates for teachers. I never thought of it then, but she set aside one day to get these ready. I do the same thing.

My favorite tradition is Santa Sacs. All the adults buy a cheesy gift to put in for each of the nieces and nephews. While the adults are drinking and getting dinner ready, they entertain themselves. They usually contain some kind of game, or projectile, and it gets pretty wild. The past few years we also have a G.I. Sac on our doorstep. Neighbors, friends and family fill it before the holidays and I ship it out.

Followed on everything. Favorite Christmas tradition was making cheese sausage pizza with my dad and family on Xmas Eve. Then we opened gifts. I usually try with my family now to make chocolate chip cookies on Xmas eve if we can.

Sandy D. liked your fb page ~ my favorite memory is going to church on Christmas Eve ~ our mother always made us matching outfits for my 2 sisters and I to match mom's!!! She was an amazing seamstress for sure! :-)Shared your post on my fb page!Following you on Pinterest as of today! Please follow me as well...Following Gooseberry Patch on fb and Pinterest! Love what they do!

One of my favorite Christmas memories was when the family all lived within the same block and on Christmas day we all went to each other's house to open presents. Then either my mom or grandmother would host the Christmas dinner. There was always so much food and the yummy homemade pumpkin, pecan, and chocolate pies!!!

Also, I am already a FB and Pinterest fan and I shared your link on FB!

To remember THE TRADITION of David going down to light the tree and start the Christmas Music , then he would go and bring down each child , oldest to youngest , hes been gone 12 years and how I wish I could go back and see him doing it with his newest Grand , 1 yr old this Christmas

Every year as I take the tree down and put the ornaments away I use the current years picture/Christmas card and jot down the following: all the ways we have been blessed during the year; big and small and all of the defining moments from the year. I also write down my hopes and dream for the year to come. Then as my kids decorate the tree the next year I sit back and usually with tears in my eyes remember all of the joys and sorrows. I'm always amazed at just how God has responded to my "hopes and dreams" comments from the previous year. Thanks for the giveawayMy email is sweetserendipity1@ymail.com

I love spending Christmas Eve with my parents and then Christmas morning reading the Christmas story right out of the Bible before we open gifts, did that with our children and now our grand children. I love Gooseberry Patch and have quite a collection of cook books. I am a fan of Gooseberry on FB and also liked Served up with Love on FB.

My favorite Christmas memories are from my childhood. Laying on the floor in the living room with one or more of my six brothers just looking at the twinkling lights on the tree and our heads full of wonder for what Christmas morning would bring!. I liked Gooseberry Patch on Facebook too! Merry Christmas!

My favorite thing on Christmas is having all the family arriving and all helping out in the kitchen to finish preparations for our afternoon dinner. After we are done and the dish washer is running we go to church as a family which is my favorite part. After we come home and open gifts and spend the remainder of the time playing with the grandkids, snacking and playing cards or games.

One of my favorite christmas traditions is taking my children to a local church every year that has a drive-thru live nativity scenes. Afterward we go in the church and have hot cocoa and cookies. This is a great way to remind them the true meaning of Christmas.

My favorite Christmas tradition is making Polish pierogi with my mom and aunts on Christmas Eve to be shared with our extended family. My grandmother taught my mom and aunts. My mom and aunts in turn have taught me. We all have our jobs in the pierogi making process. While making the pierogies, I love that I get to hear stories about my grandmother that I so much admire yet never had the opportunity to meet. We follow my grandmother's traditions for Easter also. I am a fan of Gooseberry Patch on facebook and I follow them also on Pinterest. I love how Gooseberry Patch not only gives us great family recipes in their cookbooks but they also give us a glimpse into the memory or tradition that the recipe originated from!

Every Christmas the whole family would work together to make candy for our neighbors' Christmas plates. Mom made fudge, chocolate and peanut butter. Dad made Raspberry Divinity. My sister and I decorated cookies. We let our little brother help us. The wonderful smells and the togetherness in our house was what made it Christmas.

My favorite Christmas memory is making cookies with my mom!!! What fun we would have. And that custom carried on with the grandchildren as well, and the grandchildren remember those happy times to this day!!!dmh5858@msn.com

Some of my favorite Christmas memories...every Christmas Eve my children receive a gift form us, not Santa, a new pair of Christmas pj's....I also like to wrap christmas stories up like presents & each night in December the children choose 1 to unwrap & have read to them.

My favorite Christmas tradition is spending Christmas Eve over night at my parents. We have done this as a family (me, hubby and 3 boys) since the kids were very little and they are 25,21,and 17 now. It will be no different this year. My mom and I will bake and cook for our get together on Christmas Eve. My dad will dress up as Santa and like he does each year, read a new Christmas story to us all. Then, at midnight my dad will pass out gifts for us to open. Every year I pray that we will get a good snowfall to compliment our warm fire and Christmas music playing in the background.

P.S. I liked your FB page and I was already a Gooseberry fan :) I am also a follower of both on Pinterest! Thanks!

One of my favorite memories of Christmas is maintaining the Polish tradition of going caroling carrying a huge bright star on a pole, dressed in Polish customes and singing Polish and English carols throughout Polish neighborhoods, the surprise and delight from those that opened the door. Thank you for sponsoring this giveaway arlene Marie Pitts, carpediem5790@yahoo.com

My favorite memory is always cooking breakfast for dinner with the kids on Christmas eve. They loved it and to this day we still do it even though they are older and don't all live at home anymore.jwilson921(at)yahoo.com

Love your page. I have completed all the steps to sign up I hope. My favorite Christmas memory was when our children were young and My Mother-in-Law was living. She loved Christmas and Our son and daughter was 10 and 7 they would always put on a Christmas Padget for her and sell tickets to the family. Mom always bought her ticket early so she could get a front row seat. The last Christmas Padget that was planned was the year Mom passed in 1993. They had everything ready for their program to be put on after we got home from church that night and before church, while waiting on us to pick her up for church my mother in law had a massive stroke and we took her to the hospital. Mom never recovered from the stroke and passed Jan 2 we didn't have Christmas that year and that Padget was never put on, the kids never put on a Padget after that. When we went through her things she had kept every homemade ticket from the years past and had that one in her wallet. She was the most awesome mother-in-law/grandma a person could ever ask for. I still miss her so much. Maybe this is not what you meant but it is the one I remember most.